Strange Brew
by ShanghaiLily
Summary: Just a naughty little one-shot taking place sometime after Jackie Bags Hyde and before she reunites with Kelso. Jackie goes to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert on a date but goes home with somebody entirely different. Sexy but not quite over the line into smutty M territory.


**A/N: This one shot takes place some time after 'Jackie bags Hyde'. She's still not back together with Kelso, but has gotten over her Hyde obsession.**

**Obligatory disclaimer: Shocking, but I do not own That 70's Show, so please don't blame me for season 8.**

* * *

On a boat in the middle of a raging sea, she would make a scene for it all to be ignored.  
And wouldn't you be bored?

- "Strange Brew" by Cream

* * *

Jackie Burkhart stared into the full-length mirror on the back of her best friend's door and pouted. "Make me look scummy."

Donna's hand flew to her hip and she forced herself to stay calm. They'd been at this an hour already, and as far as she was concerned, they were about 45 minutes over the limit of her patience already. "Five minutes ago, you just asked me to make you look like me!"

"So...?" Jackie asked, implying that the requests were one in the same.

Donna exhaled loudly and pulled a few more items from Jackie's suitcase. "Honestly, none of this stuff is going to work for Lynyrd Skynyrd. I think this may be a sign that you and your date are incompatible."

"Nonsense!" Jackie huffed. "He's rich. How much more compatible can we be than that? Also, I don't think he's screwed Pam Macy yet, so we're good on that front."

"That prerequisite does significantly narrow your pool of guys..."

"Right?" Jackie sat on the edge of the bed in a slip and bra, lost in thought. "Fucking Michael. This is all his fault. If he weren't such a whore, I wouldn't be stuck all night looking through a lumberjack's closet for clothes that are gross enough to wear on a date to some white trash concert. I don't even find Billy remotely Frampton-worthy."

"Not that I have any idea what that entails, but why are you going if you don't even dig the guy?" Donna lifted a few of the discarded shirts from the floor and put them on hangers.

"Michael Kelso needs to be reminded that just because he doesn't think I'm worth staying faithful to, doesn't mean there aren't guys lined up around the block just waiting to woo me." Jackie's eyes flashed with anger and then she forced a smile in the mirror. "You know what, Donna? I'm beautiful, I can make anything work. Do you have any concert t-shirts that aren't made for girls that could compete on the East German women's wrestling team?"

"You realize you're asking me for a favor right?" Donna's face reflected her disbelief, but as usual, her small friend didn't seem to notice.

"I'd wear one of my own, but I'm guessing Captain and Tenille is not what we're going for, right?" She watched herself frown in the mirror.

Donna assessed her wardrobe and then shook her head. "I'd let you borrow one of mine, but I don't think anything will fit your tiny, childlike body."

Jackie lifted a Bob Marley shirt out of Donna's drawer and held it up to her body. "I could cut one up...wear it as a muumuu?"

"I'm not that big, you midget!" Donna huffed, snatching away the shirt. "Anyway, I changed my mind, you can't have one. I love you, but no way. They're like my children."

"Well, does Eric have anything cool I could borrow?" Jackie asked, already knowing the answer.

Donna stifled a giggle before they both burst out laughing.

Jackie gazed out of the bedroom window toward the Formans' house. "Do you think...anybody else might consider loaning me a shirt?"

Donna raised an eyebrow at the ridiculous insinuation. "You're talking about Hyde, right?"

She shrugged and worried her bottom lip with her teeth. "Or...whomever..."

"Nobody else lives over there, Jackie."

"He won't do it, will he?" She frowned and let her chin drop to her chest.

The older girl sighed and sat next to her friend. "That's a pretty safe bet."

Jackie's eyes flicked up to meet Donna's in the mirror. "I could always, you know...take one anyway."

"Are you asking me if I think it's a good idea to steal clothes from Hyde? Because the answer is -no I don't. That decision is going to bite you in the ass for sure."

"Not if he never finds out!" Jackie said excitedly as she pulled her legs up underneath her. "Come on, please Donna! It's not every day a girl gets invited to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert. PLEASE!" She pouted her bottom lip out and widened her eyes.

Donna softened despite her best judgement. After listening to Jackie cry for the last few weeks, she was willing to do just about anything it took to break the hideous monotony. "Fine. What do you want me to do?"

* * *

Jackie and Donna walked into the basement, finding Hyde in his chair, and Kelso sitting on the couch next to Fez. None of them noticed the girls' entrance, as they were too busy being rapt by an episode of 'Charlie's Angels'.

"Kelly looks hot as a stripper." Hyde mumbled to a gormless Fez, who nodded numbly.

"I'd like to see Sabrina dressed like that. You know, it's always the quiet ones who are hellcats in the sack." Kelso smiled and stretched his legs out.

Jackie winced at Kelso's comment and grit her teeth.

Feeling bad for her friend, Donna cleared her throat and headed across the room toward the couch. "Hey guys."

With Donna's misdirection, Jackie sneaked effortlessly into Hyde's room and grabbed the first concert t-shirt she came across, slipping back out into the main room with it stuffed down the back of her pants.

Hyde instinctively turned his head and looked suspiciously at the tiny brunette. "What are you doing over there?"

"Why do you care?" Jackie cocked her hip aggressively.

"I don't." He snorted and leaned back in his chair.

"Oh, I thought maybe you were hoping to get me alone, you know, to ask me out on a date again or something..." She knew she was playing with fire, but she'd rather have Hyde irritated by her taunting than incendiary about her theft.

"That wasn't a date," he growled.

"You paid for dinner."

"I felt bad for you."

Jackie narrowed her eyes and let a sinister smile overtake her face. "So bad that you kissed me?"

"OHH!" Kelso shrieked loudly and glared at his best friend, seething with anger. "Jackie! You kissed Jackie? You kissed Jackie! How could you do that to me, man?"

Hyde shifted uncomfortably in his chair and shot daggers with his eyes at a gleeful Jackie. "She threw herself at me."

She nudged Kelso in the shoulder to stir the pot. "Are you gonna let him talk about me that way, Michael?"

Kelso stood up and held his dukes up, bracing for a fight. "Get up!" he screamed at his best friend, who in turn, simply rolled his eyes in response.

"The kiss wasn't even good Michael. Punch him for that!" Jackie egged him on while silently taunting Hyde with her eyes.

Hyde glanced at Jackie with a white hot fury. "Chip was right about you, Burkhart. You really are a bitch."

She smirked, then topped off her act by blowing him a kiss. "Ciao Steven. Have fun tonight with the other losers." She cackled loudly as she ran up the stairs, his stolen shirt in tow.

* * *

Jackie fluffed her hair, which she'd fashioned wild and curly, like Stevie Nicks', and pulled her second cowboy boot over the leg of her skin-tight denim pants, the ones that hugged her ass in all the right places.

"Hello Sandra Dee!" Donna gave Jackie the thumbs up.

She stood in front of the mirror, adjusting Hyde's 'Cream' concert t-shirt, which she had cut up beyond all recognition, to make it more seductive. "You like?"

"He's going to kill you, but at least you're gonna go out looking hot," Donna said with an eyebrow waggle, before ushering her friend out of the door.

Jackie took one last look at herself and started having doubts. It was her first date post-breakup, and her self-esteem hovered somewhere between the trash bin on the street corner and the gutter next to it. "You really think I look hot?"

"Jackie, I think if I had a couple more beers even I would have sex with you," Donna said with a sly smile.

She placed her hand over her heart. "Donna, it's so sweet that you want to do me. That's the nicest thing anybody's said to me in weeks."

Donna laughed and gave her project a little push. "Get out of here already, midget, or you're gonna miss the show."

* * *

By the time Jackie arrived at the Skynyrd concert, she was already three sheets to the wind. Dating after Michael was strange. He was the only person she'd ever really been with, and the thought of letting another man touch her felt foreign, but it was what it was.

Her date, Billy, was a pretty boy, dressed up to look like an urban cowboy. Same guy, different name. He could have been Michael, except that he wasn't.

"You look scorching, baby," Billy said, unable to keep his hands off her ass.

Jackie slid his hands back up to her waist. "Thanks baby."

It wasn't until they reached the front of the venue, that Billy realized he'd forgotten the tickets in the glove compartment of the car.

"Aw man, I left the passes in the car. Do you want to wait here for me?"

"I'll be the hot chick waiting at the entrance for you." Jackie waved him off as he started jogging back over to his car, parked far at the edge of the lot.

She smoothed out her jeans and then pulled out a pocket mirror to ensure that her hair was still as bouncy fresh as ever.

At that exact moment, Hyde's El Camino screeched up to the front of the concert hall and started to idle.

"You sure you're up for tailgating, man?" Hyde asked Fez, who was mindlessly eating a giant bag of gummy worms.

"It's called 'tailgating' Hyde. I assume this means we will be getting a little tail tonight, no?" Fez asked.

"If by 'we' you mean me, then yes. I'll be scoring some tail tonight. Not sure what you and your bag of limp dicks will be up to." He gestured to the gummy worms.

"What better to bring to a parking lot full of whores than a bag of dicks? Sometimes you can be so dense, Hyde" Fez said, shaking his head.

"Whatever. Just make yourself scarce once I meet a chick. I don't need you hanging around getting 'needs' or whatever the hell you're into."

"Don't worry about it man, I'm cool. Relax!" Fez affected a stilted smile and gave him a double thumbs up.

Hyde sighed. He genuinely liked Fez, but he wasn't too big on charity work. "I don't 'relax'. I get baked."

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, was one of the hottest asses Hyde ever laid eyes on. His mouth dropped open in astonishment. "Holy crap, Fez. Do you see what I see?"

"Not only do I see it, but I am taking a picture in my mind so I may catalog it for future use" he said.

Outside of the car, Jackie nervously dropped her mirror to the ground and bent over to pick it up. "Shit."

"OHHHHH!" both Fez and Hyde screamed as Jackie bent over.

"That's it" decided Hyde. "I am putting the car in park to go talk to her."

No sooner did he cut the engine, that Billy reappeared with concert tickets in hand, breathing heavily from his quick return. "Let's go, babe." He helped himself to a handful of Jackie's ass and she stiffened.

Jackie pulled his hand away, and he forcefully brought it back down to her rump. "Relax, baby."

"What are you doing, Billy? Get your hands off my ass!" she hissed.

"If you didn't want me touching your ass, you probably would have worn something else, Jackie," he said, smiling smugly.

How could he imply she was a whore, of all things? She'd barely given it up to Michael, and now the entire town thinks she's open for business? She took a step back and tried to keep herself from smacking him across the face. She wanted to take the high road. "You know what? Go fuck yourself. Lynyrd Skynyrd sucks!" She turned on her heel and tried to achieve a dramatic exit.

Before she could depart, Billy grabbed her wrist and tried to pull her toward the entrance of the venue.

"Get off of me!" she screamed, attempting unsuccessfully to kick his shin.

They struggled long and hard, and though she had indignation on her side, Jackie was still only a 95lb girl, and no amount of vitriol would give her the jump on a guy 50% larger than her.

Watching this spectacle, Hyde shot Fez a grim look, then kicked the driver's door open and took off out of the car. Even if she weren't hot, there was no way he could just stand there and watch a guy man handle a girl like that.

He stood a few feet from the skirmish, watching the coward take his aggression out on the pocket-sized goddess. As he watched the two of them wrestle, he couldn't help but be impressed by the woman's determination. Any other girl would have been halfway in the front door by that point, but this chick was giving as good as she got. For a woman who barely weighed more than a large dog, she was a force of nature.

It would be his pleasure to liberate such a fine specimen from the dickwad giving her a hard time.

He puffed his chest out and took a step forward. "Is this guy bothering you?"

His eyesight was squarely focused on the guy. If there was one thing he learned on the streets, it's that you never take your eye off of the guy. Don't let the chick distract you from what you came to do, not matter how fit she looked.

Besides, he knew he'd have plenty of time to get a good look at her, one she was beneath him later that night, moaning her appreciation.

"Yes, he's..." At that moment, Jackie recognized the identity of her savior. Beyond mortified, she pulled away from a distracted Billy and tried to slip away without being seen.

"What are you gonna do about it, burn-out?" Billy taunted.

Hyde cocked his head to the side and smirked at Billy, then squarely hit him in the jaw, knocking him out with one punch.

As soon as Billy hit the ground, Jackie took off at top speed toward the main road. She knew it was too far away to make it all the way home on foot, but there wouldn't be any people to hitch from right now, since the concert hadn't even started yet. She was still drunk, and every step she took was le aden, weighed down by her paralyzing fear, as well as the three shots of tequila Donna force fed her before sending on her way.

"Shit shit shit!" she cursed, kicking a rock as far she she could. She took another breath and decided to try to flag down a car on the throughway, the only shot she really had at getting home at that point in the evening.

About half a mile down the dark country road, she felt two headlights on her back and her blood ran cold. Suddenly, having her ass grabbed by Billy maybe didn't sound so bad, especially when the alternative could be...

"Hey!" She heard a voice call out at her from behind. "Are you okay?"

Slowing her gait, she recognized the voice and knew that she was at the point of no return - the jig was up.

The car pulled over to the side of the road and Hyde leapt out onto the dirt road.

Her breathing increased, and she heard his feet crunching on the gravel behind her.

"I said, are you okay?" he repeated, wondering if she had actually heard him or not. He figured she must be scared, but surely she wasn't frightened of the guy who knocked out the asshole who was bothering her?

Jackie dropped her head and turns around to face him.

"You ran off so fast, I-"

The moment Jackie lifted her head and he discovered who his damsel in distress had been, his mouth ran dry.

"Thanks" she said, while softly hugging herself.

"Jackie?" he confirmed, shocked that his dream girl was the only person in the universe who had the ability to mind fuck him just for kicks on multiple occasions. If he hadn't seen it play out before his very eyes, he'd have assumed this display was just the final part of one long, well-orchestrated burn.

"Hey." She was quiet for once, and still unable to look him in the eyes.

Unable to wrap his head around the fact that he'd been unknowingly lusting after his frenemy, he laughed bitterly to himself. "That was you the entire time?"

She shrugged and looked off into the distance. "Apparently."

Finally snapping out of his stupor, be began to grow irrationally angry. She wasn't his favorite person in the world, but she was still one of _his_ people. Considering he could count every friend he had on one hand, he wasn't about to let something bad happen to one of them - not on his watch. "Jackie, what were you doing with that asshole? Something really bad could have happened to you if I wasn't there!"

"Yeah. I said thanks," she answered flatly.

"That's it?" He threw his hands in the air in frustration. "I'm being serious here!"

"So am I. I seriously thank you for decking that guy. He _so _deserved it."

"Jackie, no matter what kind of bullshit I spew, we both know you're not a fucking moron, so why the hell would you go out with a guy like that? Is he like, your new boyfriend or something?" Something in his stomach lurched at the idea of it, but he quickly forced that feeling back down.

She shook her head slowly. "It was a first date. As you can see, I am rebounding splendidly from my relationship with that fuckhead cheater you call a best friend."

"Forget about Kelso, you can do better." It slipped out of his mouth before he had a chance to vet it, but he let it go. She probably needed to hear something like that right now, and it wasn't exactly like he was lying. "That jerkwad was a step down."

She buried her head in her hands. "I feel crappy enough as it is about it, Steven. What else do you want me to say? Do you want me to admit that you're right? That not only am I horrible girlfriend worthy of being cheated on, but the only acceptable guy who asked to go out with me this week turned out to be slightly rapey?"

He let out a deep breath and pressed his hands to his head, turning slowly in a circle. Soul saving wasn't exactly on the agenda for the evening, but what the hell else was he supposed to do? He couldn't let her just walk off the way she was, it wasn't safe. "You don't get it do you? You have shitty taste in guys, princess. That guy would've pumped you full with a few beers and then gone for the goods, whether you wanted him to or not. Sometimes you chicks can be so fucking dumb."

"Who do you think you are, my father?" she spat.

He raised an admonishing brow in her direction. "No, if I were your father, you wouldn't have left the house dressed like an East Coast slut."

"Good to know." Jackie bit back her tears, turned around and started to walk away from him. There was no way in hell she would let him see her have a breakdown, not after the shit he just said to her. Tonight was frightening enough on its own, and she didn't need to add total humiliation to the mix.

Hyde watched her retreat without quarry, until a pang of guilt swiftly kicked him in the gut. "Damn it!" He started to walk after her. "Jackie!"

She picked up the pace, trying her best to get as far as possible before the dam broke behind her eyes.

"Jackie!" he called out again, jogging up to her and grabbing her arms to slow her down.

"What? Are you going to try to assault me tonight too? Try to teach me a lesson?"

He loosened his grip on her arms, but continued to hold onto one of her wrists to keep her there. Looking into her wide eyes, glowing with emotion and tears, he couldn't help but be overcome by her beauty.

"Jackie" he said her name once more, this time in a whisper.

She worried her bottom lip as tears began to stream down her face.

Hyde looked at her with empathy for the first time in his life, and he could finally recognize Jackie for what she really was - a scared girl with a Gothic secret. He wondered how he could have missed it before when it was so obvious to him now, even if he wasn't sure exactly what _it _was. Maybe it took somebody with the same kind of pain to know it in another person, but there it was, plain as day, and he had missed it until now. Maybe it was because he didn't bother looking for it.

He reached out and wiped away her tears away with his thumbs. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean..."

Before Hyde could finish his apology, she threw herself into his chest and sobbed uncontrollably. He cursed himself for ever leaving the house that night, but for as much as he complained about it, being needed was a pretty good feeling. Nobody needed him, at the most he was tolerated and sometimes liked. Never needed. What could he possible have to give that anybody would want?

Despite her histrionics, Hyde held her close to his torso until her gasps for air began to slow. She sighed into the crook of his neck and that uncomfortable tingling feeling he had earlier returned in spades.

"Shh. It's okay." He ran one hand over the back of her silky curls and wrapped the other one tightly around her waist.  
Her body was warm and tight under his fingers and he found himself feeling confused.

Also, she smelled amazing, like strawberries and burnt sugar, and he convinced himself it meant nothing for him to want to inhale her scent. She was a friend in need, and he couldn't exactly _not_ smell her when she had thrown herself into his unwilling embrace. It would be rude.

Once she regained control over her outburst, she pulled out of his arms and took a few steps back. Wiping the remaining tears on the back of her hand, she smoothed her hair back behind her ears, then took a breath and smiled weakly. "I must look awful."

"You have looked better," he quipped.

She rolled her eyes and wiped her wet hands off on her jeans. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, Steven. I get bitchy when I'm upset, which I'm sure comes as a huge surprise to you."

"You don't say?" Hyde smiled, genuinely happy to see her regaining her old sense of self. "Well...uh, I'm sorry I said that thing about your dad."

She nodded solemnly. "I only cried because he...you know what, forget it." She waved her hand in the air between them and reminded herself that spilling her guts to a guy whose favorite past time was making her life miserable was probably not the wisest move. He would only use it against her later.

He drew in a breath and crossed to her. "Come on, Jackie. We can call a truce for tonight."

She pursed her lips in thought. "Why would you do that?"

She looked almost childlike and wounded, and he really didn't want to make her feel any worse. If he hadn't been there when he was, she really could have ended up in the hospital or worse, and as annoying as she was, he didn't want that. "Why do I do anything, princess? I may be a dick, but if I were a colossal dick, I would have just left you out here, right? Only a colossal dick would use something like this against you."

Jackie smiled again and nodded, accepting his answer as sincere. "Okay. Deal." She licked her dry lips as they continued to walk together in silence, and he couldn't help but wonder what they tasted like. Did she taste of strawberries?

"What's up with your dad?" he asked, trying not to sound too invested.

"Beats me. I haven't seen him in three months." She shrugged, keeping her head tilted toward the ground as they walked.

"THREE months. Really? What does Pam Burkhart have to say about that? Can't imagine a woman like her is keen to stay lonely for too long."

Jackie snorted her laughter and shook her head. "I don't really know. You would have to call the Playa del Tampico Hotel and ask her. She's been staying there the past seven weeks."

"You're alone?" He kicked himself for not picking up on that sooner. Of all of their friends, he should have been able to see it, considering he'd been in the same position not too long ago.

She shrugged and shot him a lopsided smile. "Aren't we all alone in this cosmic universe?"

"Nobody is staying with you?" She shrugged again and he suddenly felt like a huge asshole for picking on her so much lately. "Why didn't you say anything to anybody, Jackie?"

"Why didn't you say anything when your parents abandoned you?" she countered, quickly.

He let his head drop back and a sigh slipped out. He got it now. She isn't interested in his pity, or anybody else's for that matter. He felt the same way when the shoe was on his foot. Maybe they were more alike that he'd thought? "Get in the car, I'll drive you back to Donna's."

Jackie slowed her gait. "I don't want to."

"I'm not taking you back to an abandoned house, so you're low on options" he threatened.

"No, Donna's is fine. I'm just...I don't want to go back yet," she admitted. "I think I need to let off a little steam first."

Yeah, that figured, and he really couldn't blame her, considering he'd probably be halfway down a bottle of scotch, if he were her. He reached into the flatbed of his truck. "Beer?"

"Thanks." She smiled, so he opened one up and handed it to her, then opened one for himself.

"How drunk are you right now?" he asked, watching her carefully for any sign that she wasn't okay. Donna would kick his ass if she knew that he'd plied her best friend with liquor, especially if she'd already had too much.

Jackie held her fingers about an inch apart. "Drunk enough to drink this swill." She flashed him a grin and he couldn't even find it within himself to be pissed that she ragged on his beer. "Can we turn on the radio?"

"Fine." He was definitely not in the mood to party with her, but it was a rough night for the girl, and he'd just have to suck it up. Who knew the first hot chick he picked up would be cock-blocking him for the rest of the night without giving it up herself?

Hyde leaned into the driver's side of his car and turned on the radio. 'Strange Brew' by Cream drifted through the open windows the moment the knob clicked on.

_Strange brew - killin' what's inside of you._

Jackie walked in front of the headlights and started to dance by herself, swaying her hips to the beat, holding her arms up above her head as she let the music guide her body.

He thought her ass looked great just standing there before on the sidewalk, but in motion, it was pure poetry.

The lights from the car illuminated her form, and he could just make out the subtle peaks of her breasts beneath her shirt. He groaned inwardly, realizing she wasn't wearing a bra.

_She's a witch of trouble in electric blue._  
In her own mad mind she's in love with you,  
With you.

Hyde watched her dance, but tried to keep himself from enjoying it too much. This was Jackie, for Christ's sake. Jackie was a pain in the ass and a loudmouth. She definitely couldn't be sexy. Right?

_Now what you gonna do?_

She shook her hair out with her free hand, her chocolate curls cascading down her shapely back in time with the drums. Flashing her smile, she seemed almost to vibrate with excitement.

Hyde's jeans started to tighten and he tried to think of baseball, then crossed his arms over his chest and forced his mouth into a displeased frown.

But hey, it didn't hurt anybody if he looked, right? He convinced himself that it would be rude to ignore her.

_Strange brew - killin' what's inside of you._

Jackie could tell he was enjoying her performance, and why not? She was extraordinary-looking, everybody knew it. After the kindness Hyde showed her tonight, she figured she owed him a good time, in some capacity. Plus, the way his eyes caressed her skin as she danced, making it pucker and burn hot at the same time, wasn't exactly unpleasant.

She twirled in a circle and laughed as some of the beer she was holding spilled over and trickled down her arm. Parting her lips, she licked the inside of her forearm from the crook of her elbow to her wrist, sure to lap up every wayward drop. "Oops."

Hyde knees began to weaken and he wondered what he'd done in a past life to warrant this kind of torture.

_She's some kind of demon messin' in the flue._  
If you don't watch out it'll stick to you,  
To you.

Jackie spun around again, her taut midriff exposed when her arms rose up, and his eyes followed every move. He didn't even bother to disguise his interest at that point, because he was a guy, and only two types of guys wouldn't be checking her out: gay ones and dead ones...and he wasn't even too sure about the first group.

"What band is this again, Steven?" she asked innocently.

_What kind of fool are you?_

He looked at her strangely. "Um, you're wearing their t-shirt, doll."

_Strange brew - killin' what's inside of you._

Jackie looked down and read the front of the t-shirt, then instantly remembered where she got it from and a guilty expression swept across her face as she gazed back up at him.

His mouth pressed into a hard line and his eyes narrowed. "Find anything interesting in the basement earlier tonight?"

_On a boat in the middle of a raging sea,_  
She would make a scene for it all to be  
Ignored.

She locked eyes with him a moment, and then gave him a crooked grin. "You can have it back."

Jackie slowly peeled the shirt off of her body, balled it up and tossed it to him, leaving herself completely exposed from the waist up.

_And wouldn't you be bored?  
_

By some miracle, he managed to catch the shirt, then found himself echoing her smile. He wanted to turn away, he _needed_ to turn away, but he couldn't get his damn eyes to cooperate. She was standing there topless, looking fucking gorgeous and nubile, and God if he didn't want to put his mouth all over her at that moment.

Hyde's jeans were getting unbearably tight, but he continued to watch her dance in front of him, gyrating unashamed and half-dressed. He wondered, fleetingly, if she might have a multiple personality disorder, and tried to figure out which one was the real Jackie - the bitch from the basement or the hellcat swaying in front of him topless. Either way, he was certain at this point that he would fuck both of them senseless, as well as any other Jackie variants that felt like showing up.

_Strange brew - killin' what's inside of you._  
Strange brew, strange brew, strange brew, strange brew.  
Strange brew - killin' what's inside of you.

The song ended and her dancing stopped, leaving them staring at one another in silence. "Song's over. Guess it's time to go, huh?"

Hyde was transfixed, she had managed to render him speechless.

Jackie giggled at her affect on him, snapping him out of his trance.

"Jackie..." Hyde tossed the shirt back to her. "It looks better on you anyway."

She smiled and pulled it back on over her head. "Thanks Steven. This was...nice." She climbed back into the car and waited for him.

* * *

The next 20 minutes in the car were quieter than a graveyard, other than the loud beating of their hearts and their ragged breath.

Hyde kept himself focused on the road, afraid if he glanced at her, he would end up crashing the Camino.

As they turned onto the Forman's street, Hyde abruptly pulled the car to the side of the road near an unoccupied house and cut the motor.

He looked at Jackie intently, with a lot on his mind and no idea how to phrase any of it. As he stared at her, trying to make sense of the evening, she leaned forward onto her knees and slowly pulled his glasses from his face.

"Jackie, what are you-?" Hyde stopped himself. He hadn't seen it often, but he knew that look in her eyes very well. It was the same look she gave him before she kissed him on the hood of her daddy's Lincoln when they went up to Mount Hump for their ill-fated date.

"I just wanted to thank you properly for tonight. I know you'll argue with me, but you really are my knight in shining armor." She swallowed thickly and smiled shyly at him, causing his chest to seize up painfully.

He squeezed his eyes shut, not sure if he was wishing her or the rest of the world away, but one of them had to go. There was no way he could be with her in his car, wanting to do all of these dirty things to her, and have the rest of the world know about it. They could only exist together in a bubble or not at all.

His eyes dropped to her crimson lips and his mind drifted back to his earlier musing. He wanted to taste her, desperately wanted to sink his teeth into that pouting bottom lip she always bared at him when she wanted something. Well, he was the one who wanted something now.

As if reading his mind, Jackie slid her hand on top of the steering wheel and pulled herself closer to him.

This was going to happen whether he wanted it to or not. That much he knew. The crazy thing was, he very much wanted it to, and realized just now that he had for a long time.

"Steeeven..." she whispered hotly into his ear. "Aren't you going to let me thank you properly?"

His jaw tensed at her proximity and he could feel his grip on the steering wheel loosen. He locked eyes with her, cradled her face with one of his hands, and then roughly pulled her to his chest with the other, causing her to gasp.

Jackie squealed softly at the sudden impact, but he silenced her reaction immediately as he crashed his lips against hers, finally getting a sweet taste of what he'd been resisting all night, and holy crap was it sweet.

Hyde moaned softly into her mouth as his tongue probed inside and explored the contours of her soft, wet lips.

"Jesus, Jackie" he gasped, as she guided both of his hands under her shirt, begging them to tease her tight pink buds, now stiff with arousal. The velvety feel of her skin, the smell of her hair and her responsive body were all driving him over the edge into a sensory abyss. He's been around the block, and then circled back around again, but he'd never in his life experienced anything like this with a woman. He was having trouble identifying what was happening to him, mainly because it was all happening at once.

He fisted her hair, pulling her head back to expose more of her neck to him, as he sank his mouth onto it hungrily.

Jackie trembled in his arms and panted in his ear, overwhelmed by his unexpected want for her. "Steven...oh God..." She unconsciously bucked her hips as he pinched her hard beneath her t-shirt. "Shit. Yes..." Her lips landed sloppily on the side of his neck and she mouthed her way up his jaw.

"You're driving me crazy," he managed to breathe into the crook of her neck as she tossed her head back and moaned from pleasure.

Jackie climbed on to his lap and straddled him, then pressed her core into him deeply while running her tongue along the ridge of his earlobe, teasing him with her teeth. "Oh fuck," she whimpered into his ear as he grabbed her ass and forcefully slammed his aching bulge against her.

Then suddenly without warning, Jackie pulled back. "I really want to...God, I _really_ fucking want to, but it isn't right...not like this."

Hyde let out a strangled groan and nodded stoically, knowing deep down she was doing the right thing for both of them, at the moment at least. He couldn't just go off half-cocked and fuck his best friend's girl in the front seat of his car. Kelso may have been a shitty boyfriend to Jackie, but he was a good friend to him, and it wasn't right. Something like this could break up the group, and no piece of ass was worth wrecking the only family he still had.

Breathless and still holding each other tightly, they looked at one another intensely and then suddenly broke out into laughter.

It was ridiculous, the idea of the two of them together, but Jackie couldn't help but feel wistful. She had both liked and loathed Hyde over the years - sometimes at the same time - and even though it was obvious that they were a horrible match, in the recesses of her mind, she still clung to the belief that maybe one day, in another lifetime, they might actually be able to get it together.

Despite the bad stuff either of them said out loud to each other or their friends, she _knew_ it was all bullshit. Tonight proved that. It was always there, this thing between them, and she knew now that it always would be.

"This was...different" Hyde said, stunned by their shared lack of control.

"Different bad?" she asked, her brows creasing with anxiety.

"More like...different incredible." He smiled sadly and brought her to his lips for one last kiss.

Jackie dismounted his lap and they both groaned from the loss of contact. "Guess you don't hate me as much as you thought," she said, gloating to herself.

"Guess I don't." He decided to let her win that moment.

* * *

Hyde slowly pulled his car up beside Donna's house and double parked.

"Thanks for the shirt." Jackie stroked his fingers with hers, letting them linger for a moment too long. "I'll see you around."

He gave her a casual head nod. "Later."

* * *

The next day in the basement everything looked just the same on the surface. The couch was the same lumpy mess, the TV was playing the same show they always watched at that hour, and each and every one of the gang was in their same seat.

Except for Jackie.

The door to the basement flung open and caught the wall hard as Jackie flounced dramatically into the room, barely stopping to shut the door behind her.

She wore her usual haughty look, so Hyde burned her a few times for good measure, and she humiliated him back without a second thought.

But - as Jackie bent sideways to get something out of her bag, her cardigan fell open and Hyde could see the edges of his 'Cream' t-shirt peeking out from beneath it. Hyde's eyes widened in her direction, and she bit her bottom lip before pulling her cardigan closed as he watched.

It was at that moment they both realized that even though things may have appeared to be the same on the surface, they would indelibly be different from that point onward.

* * *

**A/N – hit me up with some comments! Let me know what you think in the reviews section. Guests and anons welcome!**


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